Hey America, I know you're tired of having this sparx guy around all the time, so I'm gonna make you a deal: help me pay for the flight to New Zealand, and I'll get out of your hair for awhile.

The flight is expensive. I've been quoted prices of between $1900 and $2500 for round-trip (yes, I'm going to come back), which is a bit more than I can afford at the moment. So.. if you want to help out, just click the Paypal "Donate" link at the very top of the right side-bar thingy (or at the bottom of this post). I'm aiming for $3000, to cover the cost of the flight and some spending money for during the trip.

I figure it's a good investment. It might even generate an incredible story, especially if I manage to do something ridiculous and get exiled from New Zealand (I'd love to see what sort of Passport stamp they use for THAT).

EDIT: Here's a chart that will be updated as I get closer to my goal. I've "donated" $250 to myself for the time being. I'll add more to the pot myself as I can.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Yay!

I decided to get my celebrating on a bit early, and ended up taking the whole week off… except for working 4 hours on Monday. I give thanks for not having to work. 🙂

Once again, this year I've been asked to be in two places at exactly the same time… I think I'm thankful for that?

…. anywaaaaay…. my new hat and I wish you a happy Thanksgiving.

Hey guys… want some more music? One of Amazon.com's Black Friday promos is a free $3 credit that can be used towards the purchase of MP3's. That's 3 free songs (unless you're buying screwily priced songs)!

Click this link: Amazon: Free $3 MP3 credit!, and enter in the code "MP34FREE" before November is over.

That's it. No waiting, no contests, just enter the code and grab some free tunes.

Vampires are supposed to be evil. The Undead rulers of the night. Vampires are supposed to kill, party, and just plain be badass. They aren't supposed to be emotionally confused, "sacrifice everything for 'true love'" losers – save that crap for shows on Fox (or the CW) about over-privileged teens. Vampires take what they want, and destroy whatever gets in their way.

Even Count Chocula is a better vampire!

And twilight fans, do you know what else vampires do? They burn up in the sun. They don't turn all glittery like they're going out clubbing with their BFF.

There are only two possible explanations that I can think of for the Twilight series:

1. Stephenie Meyer hates vampires and is intentionally trying to ruin the image that they have worked so hard to build.
2. Stephenie Meyer is a pawn in a vampire plot to take over the world. It's possible that she has been put under the hypnotic spell of an evil vampire mastermind. His intent being to convince all teenage girls that when confronted by a vampire their first reaction should be trust, compassion, and… love.
   …Like cows being led to the slaughter.

Or maybe the whole "vampire" slant was just an attempt by Meyer to cover up the fact that she can't write dialogue worth shit. I'm hoping for that second explanation though.

If you want to see how the whole "Vampire vs Werewolves" thing really plays out, the correct movie to see would be Underworld.

The cell phone is a relatively young technology, but one of many that has completely changed the way the world works. At first, just a novel way to allow communication anywhere at any time, it has now worked its way into the every day lives of just about everyone. What was once an expensive communication device is now in the pockets of teenagers.

And the new "smartphones" – the iPhone, Pre, Droid, etc. – allow for 24/7 access to the web, email, twitter, facebook… they put the world of information – the information of the world – within grasp no matter where you are.

But what about the smaller effects? An observation I just made today: years ago I had my pants pockets divided as such – the left pocket was for money (small bills) and loose change, and the right pocket was for my keys. For years now, in order to protect my lifeline to the world from scratches and wear, my change and keys pockets have been combined. Now when I take out my car keys, I have to make sure that a $1 or $5 bill doesn't sneak out with them, just to keep my mobile device in pristine condition.

The cell phone is such an amazing and powerful piece of technology that it has even changed how I use my pants. Incredible!

My comment-based contest for 50 Coke Rewards Points has come to an end.

The comments took a (painfully) obvious turn towards "coke" the drug (cocaine) rather than "Coke" the beverage. Those comments were secretly disqualified – if you're going to make a drug joke, at least make it funny.

The 50 Coke points have been emailed to the winner (Eva). May she use them well!

Tired of just hearing the hype about Google Wave and want to see what it's all about?

I'm giving away five (5) invitations to Google Wave to random commenters on this post.

Want a chance at one? Just scroll down to the comment section on this post, say something awesome, and you're good to go.

On Monday, November 30th, I will randomly choose five of the commenters and enter their email addresses in for shiny new invitations from Google (make sure you enter your real email address in the comment form, as that's the address I'll be giving to Google.) I will post the name of the winners here in the comments, and also as a new post.

Google says that the invites aren't immediate, so I can't guarantee when the winners will actually receive them.